Wrapping up a Successful 2008, NewsGator Opens 2009 With New $10 Million Funding Round

Enterprise social computing company’s solutions resonate with leading companies in multiple sectors

DENVER, Jan. 12 /PRNewswire/ — A difficult economic environment has not slowed social computing company NewsGator Technologies, which has just concluded the strongest quarter in its history with record revenue, a long list of new customers, and $10 million in new funding.

A host of industry leaders(1) adopted NewsGator’s enterprise social computing offerings in late 2008, including:

• Two of the world’s top three banks
• Two of the three largest banks in the US
• The world’s largest private public relations firm
• The second-largest advertising agency in the US
• Two of the top three US manufacturers of network and communications equipment
• The world’s second-largest law firm
• Four of the top 15 US pharmaceutical companies
• Two of the top seven US aerospace and defense companies
• One of the top five investment banks in Canada
• The fourth-largest generator of electricity in the US

The end of 2008 also marked the adoption NewsGator’s Publishing Suite by leading companies that include:

• The largest commercial bank in the US
• One of the top five life and health insurance firms in the US
• One of the top five telecommunications companies in the US
• The world’s largest ERP company
• Three of the world’s largest providers and publishers of news and information

NewsGator’s NetNewsWire RSS reader was also named one of TIME magazine’s Top 10 iPhone Apps for 2008.

“We’re very proud to continue to extend and expand our Global 2000 customer relationships,” said JB Holston, CEO and president of NewsGator. “Demand is accelerating for our on-premise and SaaS-based social computing offerings as top quality companies turn to immediate, high-ROI solutions for content and collaboration.”

Edelman, PRWeek’s “Large Agency of the Year 2008,” is one new customer. It opted for Social Sites (NewsGator’s enterprise social computing product) as an affordable, convenient and quick alternative to building enhancements from scratch to complement Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. “NewsGator Social Sites 2.5 gives our FUSION Intranet the capabilities we need to round out our vision for social computing, including communities, enterprise-wide RSS, content aggregation and enhanced user profiles,” said Chris Scott, chief information officer with Edelman. “These Social Sites capabilities are fully integrated into SharePoint, which is important to us.”

The third and fourth quarters of 2008 were the most successful in NewsGator’s five years, with fourth-quarter revenue the highest ever. The results helped earn the company a new $10 million funding round from investors that include Masthead Venture Partners, Mobius Venture Capital and Vista Ventures, all of whom have earlier invested in NewsGator.

“The social computing models that have rocked the consumer world have equally important roles to play in the enterprise – and now more than ever in the current business environment,” said Brad Feld, a NewsGator director and managing director of Mobius Venture Capital and Foundry Group. “It’s inspiring to see NewsGator tapping this rich vein of need and achieving remarkable results to document the value of its approach.”

About Masthead Venture Partners

Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., Masthead Venture Partners is a venture capital firm dedicated to providing early-stage information technology, Internet infrastructure and services, communications, and IT-intensive life sciences companies with the capital and hands-on operational support they need to develop into industry leaders. The firm has the advanced technical expertise, proven operating experience and deep industry knowledge and relationships to help entrepreneurs build companies with category-defining potential. For more information please visit www.mvpartners.com.

About Mobius Venture Capital

Based in Boulder, Colorado, Mobius Venture Capital is a $1.5 billion U.S.-based venture capital firm. For more information please visit www.mobiusvc.com.

About Vista Ventures

Focusing primarily on investments in the Rocky Mountain region, Vista invests in early-stage companies in the networking, digital media and software sectors. More information can be found at www.vistavc.com.

About NewsGator Technologies, Inc.

NewsGator Technologies helps enterprises and media companies leverage social computing solutions to deliver real business value. The company’s enterprise social networking and widget services are in use by hundreds of the world’s most recognized brands, including Biogen Idec, CBS, CNN, Discovery, National Geographic, Procter & Gamble and USA TODAY. NewsGator Social Sites and Enterprise Server give enterprises better ways to collaborate, share content, expand employee knowledge and improve productivity. NewsGator Widget Services enable media and brand companies to better engage their audiences and extend the value of their brands through viral syndication of content. NewsGator also offers free, award-winning RSS aggregators for the Web, desktop, mobile devices and e-mail clients. For more information, visit www.newsgator.com.

(1) Sources: Fortune 500, Forbes, Hoover’s.

SOURCE NewsGator Technologies, Inc.